Fury at PM's Games snub

Samantha Lane

THE Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has upset Australia's Olympic chief and been accused of disappointing athletes by turning down invitations to the London Olympics and the team's key fund-raising event.

While prime ministers have often skipped the Games, the Australian Olympic Committee president, John Coates, has revealed the depth of his disappointment over Ms Gillard's decision to bypass the London Games, which start on July 27.

The AOC is particularly disappointed Ms Gillard will be the first prime minister not to attend the Prime Minister's Olympic fund-raising dinner in June, an exclusive pre-games fund-raiser that began in 1984 and is expected to raise $1.7 million this year.

Ms Gillard's predecessors have extracted political capital from Australian performances at the Olympics and sought close associations with the AOC and its stars.

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Mr Coates has described the absences as a significant political opportunity missed. The influential Australian sports administrator and member of the International Olympic Committee's executive board also lamented the contrasting attitude of Kevin Rudd, who ''got'' the games and mixed with world leaders at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

''I thought London would be an absolute must for Julia, so I'm disappointed,'' Coates told The Sun-Herald. ''It's a disappointment to us. It will be a disappointment to our team.''

Yesterday, a spokesman for the Prime Minister said Ms Gillard would be represented in London by the Minister for Sport, Kate Lundy, and that she would miss the fund-raiser because she would be representing Australia at the G20 and the UN Sustainable Development Conference.

''It is crucial that the Prime Minister make Australia's voice heard at international meetings like these,'' he said. The spokesman said prime ministers had not always attended the Olympics. ''This year, as has happened in the past, the Prime Minister will be represented by the Sports Minister.''

Mr Coates had suspected Ms Gillard would not attend the Olympics from the moment London 2012 Organising Committee chairman Lord Sebastian Coe personally invited her during a visit to Australia last year. He was unprepared, however, for the news Ms Gillard would not attend the AOC's fund-raising event on June 23, where 122 tables for 1400 guests sell for $22,000 each.

Mr Coates said a no-show by the Prime Minister was unprecedented. The function, to be held at Melbourne's Convention and Exhibition Centre, would be attended by the biggest corporate names in Australia and typically the Prime Minister made the keynote address.

Mr Coates said the G20 summit was a valid reason to miss the event, but he could not fathom why her office prolonged the apology.

''The only thing I've done is talk to Kate Lundy about it and say if it is irreversible I think it would be wise if you were to get the Prime Minister to put that out as a position before you read about this,'' Mr Coates said.

Mr Rudd was the first prime minister to travel to an Olympics since Malcolm Fraser in 1976. He pressed the flesh in China with foreign heads of state, attended the raising of the flag ceremony in the Olympic village and the official Australian team reception. ''Rudd got it,'' Mr Coates said.

John Howard did not attend the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, or the Athens games in 2004.